A network of equipment, such as display units, marine sensors, or the like, may include any combination of wired connections and wireless connections. Wired connections require the use of cables having connectors that interface with the equipment in the network. A connector may interface with any equipment having a corresponding input/output interface or port. Marine equipment and other equipment requiring high data communication may utilize a protocol such as Ethernet. The connector for an Ethernet cable may be standardized, such as the RJ45 connector, or custom.
Ethernet cables typically consist of a plurality of conductors. One common Ethernet cable style has eight conductors and a shield (ground). The conductors may be split into four pairs that are twisted and used to relay different signals. Two complementary signals may be used to send data, with one signal being a positive voltage and the other being a negative voltage. This helps reduce electromagnetic interference because the interference acts on both signals equally so the difference between the two remains constant.
When connecting Ethernet cables, a positive signal of a wire pair in one cable should connect to the positive signal in the wire pair of the other cable, and the same for the negative signal. In some applications, two identical types of Ethernet connectors at the ends of the Ethernet cables may be connected using a crossover cable therebetween, so that the receive (RX) and transmit (TX) pairs are swapped. Other methods for making proper connections between connectors of two Ethernet cables may additionally or alternatively use a printed circuit board with two connectors and copper traces running in between or a short section of Ethernet cable that is wired appropriately to the two connectors. Both of these have drawbacks in cost and reliability.